A new research has found that more than 55 lakh people across the world die prematurely every year because of air pollution. India and China, two of the world’s fastest-growing economies, accounted more than half of these deaths. Conditions caused by air pollution killed 16 lakh people in China and 14 lakh people in India in 2013, the study found. While particle emissions from burning coal was the primary cause in China, the practice of burning wood, dung, crop residues and other materials for cooking and heating led to worsening air quality in India.

Scientists from the United States, Canada, China and India analysed health and risk factors such as air pollution that affected 188 countries between 1990 and 2013. They presented their findings at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science on Saturday, PTI reported. The scientists believe that the toll will climb over the next two decades unless more efforts are made to improve air quality. Michael Brauer, a researcher from the University of British Columbia, said more than 85% of the world’s population lives in areas where the World Health Organisation’s ‘safe level’ of air pollution is breached.